Personality Flashcards
define personality - everyday meanings
charisma or charm
character or dominance
features of a person
definition of personality - scientific meaning
Inner qualities, consisting of traits and mechanisms that affect behaviour in more or less adaptive ways as well as organised in a way that uniquely defines who we are
what are the key concepts that define personality?
inner qualities
traits
mechanisms
affect on behaviour
adaptive
relatively stable
organised
uniquely defined
define inner qualities in its relation to the definition of personality
essential features of a person, at least partly latent and hidden
define traits in its relation to the definition of personality
particular dispositions or inclinations to behave a certain way
define mechanisms in its relation to the definition of personality
particular mental operations that might underlie why you behave in a certain way
define affect on behaviour in its relation to the definition of personality
Internal characteristics affect behaviour and have an impact on what we do and provide causal explanations of manifest behaviour
define adaptive in its relation to the definition of personality
some traits help us and other hurt us
define relatively stable in its relation to the definition of personality
traits imply consistency and personality evolves slowly over time
define organised in its relation to the definition of personality
there is a structure to personality, there are basic traits that pair with basic types of personality, it is not random and can be organised, personality is a constellation of traits and mechanisms
define uniquely defined in its relation to the definition of personality
every constellation of traits and mechanisms is different but we can find some standard traits and mechanisms to characterise people
what are the 3 different levels of analysis of personality?
universal
nomothetic
idiographic
what is the universal level of analysis?
overall claims - these claims characterise people in general, in terms of always true or generally true facts e.g. every human has an oedipus complex
what is the nomothetic level of analysis?
lawful claims - these claims characterise variations between people along shared dimensions e.g. X is more attached to their mother than Y is to theirs
what is the idiographic level of analysis?
individual claims - these claims characterise people particularly, variations between people using unique dimensions e.g. X is uniquely Z
define individual differences
They have to do with what a person is like (personality) and what a person can do (intelligence)
how are individual differences analysed?
nomothetically
what causes individual differences?
genes and the environment
define theories of personality
Systematic frameworks for understanding the structure, dynamics or origins of personality
These theories focus on different things and take on different perspectives
define structure, dynamics and origins
structure: components and organisation
dynamics: impacts on behaviour
origins: developmental causes
what are the different kinds of theories?
grand theories
piecemeal theories
implicit theories
explicit theories
explain grand theories
big/ classic approach
Give a complete account of human nature
Aim to give complete and internally consistent account of human nature
More theory, less evidence e.g. Freud’s theories
explain piecemeal theories
modern/contemporary approach
Focus on one aspect of human nature or particular personality trait and explains them in isolation
Aim to give a partial and externally consistent account of human nature
More evidence, less theory
explain implicit theories
popular psychology
Less scientific, more subjective
More intuitively digestible - easy to make sense of
More simplistic
May seem arbitrary or unlikely
e.g. astrology
define explicit theories
scientific psychology
More intellectually challenging
More scientific, more objective
More sophisticated
May be more measurable
what should a good theory do/contain? EVALUATION
- Make organised sense of what is already known to be true
- Make interesting new predictions about what should be true
- Be parsimonious, explain a lot with a little
- Be testable, answerable to evidence
- Have heuristic value, suggest new lines of research inquiry
- Have applied value, suggest interventions
what are the larger perspectives to these theories?
- Each perspective encompasses several theories of a particular sort, makes particular assumptions and emphases particular factors
- The various perspectives show different facets of personality, may be mutually incompatible and can be divided up in different ways
examples of the larger perspectives to these theories
Psychoanalysis or behaviour theory or evolution - explains the complexity of personality or intelligence in terms of simpler processes - reductionist approach - determinist
Humanistic approach - explains people’s goals and ambitions for the future - not reductionist, we have free will
All theories make assumptions about human nature
what are the key perspectives within theories of personality?
- Dispositions: traits and types
- Psychodynamics: unconscious drives
- Behaviour genetics: nature v nurture
- Brain and physiology: personality in the organism
- Evolution: heredity and adaptation
- Learning: outer contingencies that shape us
- Cognition: inner beliefs that shape us
- Humanism: the whole person
examples of issues within personality
- Does personality really exist?
- Is personality consistent?
- What are the basic traits of personality?
- Where does personality come from?
- What scope or limitaitons does human personality have?
- How defensible are commonsense views of human personality?
define dispositions
a latent tendency to exhibit a coherent class of behaviours
the idea that you have an inclination to behave in a certain way due to your personality
This is what affects your behaviour
People differ individually as they have varying dispositions
questions about dispositions
Is a disposition the cause of behaviour explaining why it occurs or a summary of behaviour, describing its occurrence? Can this be answered? Does the answer matter?
how can you categorise people by disposition?
use types and traits
define types of disposition
exclusive categories (names)
you belong to either one or the other
nominal or ordinal variable
a qualitative difference
type-based classification is called typology
define traits of disposition
continuous dimensions (numbers)
you can be higher or lower along an entire dimension
interval variable
a quantitative difference
trait-based classification is called ‘traitology’
difference between traits and types
Traits tend to be normally distributed
Types tend to be bimodally distributed
how can you convert a trait into a type and vice versa?
You can convert a trait to a type by choosing a splitting point but this causes information to be lost
You can’t convert a type to a trait
name some popular typologies
Enneagram
Jung/ Myers-Briggs/ Kiersky
name some scientific models/ traitologies
Eysenck’s 2- and 3- factor model
Cattell’s 16 Factor Model
Wiggins Circumplex Model
The ‘Big Five’ Model
explain the Enneagram typology
you can use 9 basic types to describe people
can be good or bad to move towards one type or the other
can only be one type
divides people into groups
explain the Myers-Briggs typology
takes 4 dimensions of personality:
extrovert/introvert
intuitive/sensing
feeling/thinking
judging/perceiving
categorises people into one or the other side of each aspect
explain Eysenck’s 2-factor model
2 factors: extraversion and neuroticism
factors are independent of each other
what are Eysenck’s 2 factors of personality?
extraversion and neuroticism
what are the two sides of extraversion?
extroverts: sociable, dominant, active, sensation-seeking, high-energy, enjoy themselves a lot
introverts: opposite
define neuroticism
having trouble dealing with reality
what are the two sides of neuroticism?
emotionality: anxious, depressed, moody, easily upset, hard time dealing with stress
stability: opposite
what did Galen add to Eysenck’s 2-factor model?
Galen combined extraversion and neuroticism to yield a classical Greek typology
This classical Greek typology has four characteristics: melancholic (sad), cholic (angry), pragmatic (calm) and sanguine (happy)
These characteristics were attributed to humours in the body
e.g. people were sad or melancholic if they had an excess of black bile which is one of the humours in the body or people were sanguine due to their blood
e.g. extroverted and emotionally stable = sanguine
what is a positive evaluation of Galen’s addition to Eysenck’s 2-factor model?
Eysenck’s model was criticised for being oversimplistic whereas Galen’s interpretation is less so
explain Eysenck’s 3-factor model
added a 3rd factor: psychoticism
psychoticism: impulsive, cold, antisocial, egocentric, aggressive
criminals tend to be higher in psychoticism
Aim is to parsimoniously account for a lot of the diversity between human beings on the base of these 3 dimensions
define psychosis
being out of touch with reality
how did Eysenck explain why people differ in these factors?
explained observed differences in people’s traits and personalities in terms of the train as it leads to different behaviours
claimed these factors are partly genetic as the brain is coded for by genes - nature side of the debate
how did Eysenck explain why people differ in the extraversion factor?
extroverts need more stimulation to achieve optimal cortical arousal whereas introverts are already adequately stimulated and don’t need more stimulation from others
how did Eysenck explain why people differ in the neuroticism factor?
explained neurotics in terms of your emotions and autonomic nervous system
neurotics possess a more unstable autonomic nervous system due to arousal
how did Eysenck explain why people differ in the psychoticism factor?
psychotics have more testosterone and less of the neurotransmitter MAO
how did Eysenck derive these traits?
used factor analysis
what is factor analysis?
a set of statistical procedures designed to uncover the nature and number of latent factors that underlie a given set of items
it allows clusters of correlating items (factors) to be identified and interpreted
some subjectivity is involved here
how does a factor analysis work?
each item loads on (correlates with) a factor to some degree
the pattern of loadings (made more coherent by factor rotation) serves as the basis for interpretation
conclusions as to the factor structure are then reached by considering the size and composition of these clusters
how is a factor analysis carried out?
ask people lots of questions on lots of questionnaires
look at how the scores go together and how they correlate
factor analysis identifies clusters that are formed from the results
shows basic dimensions of personality
how did Eysenck explain his theory in terms of hierarchy?
Eysenck showed that E, N and P were more general traits that could be derived from more specific traits
the structure was thus hierarchial
extraversion subsumed dominance, sociability, activity etc
differences between Eysenck’s factor models and Cattell’s factor model
Eysenck had 3 factors whereas Cattell had 16 factors
Eysenck looked at personality at a more general level whereas Cattell split personality apart more specifically
Cattell’s model involved more subjectivity compared to Eysenck’s model
similarities between Eysenck’s factor model and Cattell’s factor model
both based on traits not types
both used factor analysis but came to different conclusions
explain Cattell’s 16 factor model
identified 16 different traits using factor analysis to show the diversity of personality
traits can be described as aspects/ sub-traits of Eysenck’s factors
how did Cattell ensure all relevant traits were covered?
The lexical hypothesis (Galton)
all important traits are encoded in natural language so the more important a trait is, the more frequently it is referred to
used a dictionary to reduce all the trait adjectives to a manageable number and used it as a basis for self-ratings
then subjected the rating to factor analysis
the factors will correspond to fundamental personality traits
what did Cattell aim to do with his research?
the hope is that the procedure is non-arbitrary
the key traits will be comprehensive
it will bring order to the chaos of different personality theories
explain the Big Five model
Goldberg, Costa and McCrae
identified 5 dimensions that regularly emerge from factor analyses across different types of items, assessments, people and species to describe personality
what are the big five dimensions of personality?
neuroticism (emotionality)
extraversion (dominance)
openness (sophistication)
agreeableness (likeability)
conscientiousness (responsibility)
acronym to remember the big five
OCEAN
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
what makes someone neurotic?
what emotions would they display?
experiencing unpleasant emotions easily
angry hostility, anxiety, depression, vulnerability, impulsiveness, self-consciousness
what makes someone extroverted?
what emotions would they display?
showing energy, positive emotions, surgency, and for seeking stimulation and the company of others
warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-seeking, positive emotions
what makes someone open?
what emotions would they display?
appreciating art, emotion, adventure, unusual idea, imagination, curiousity and variety of experience
fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas, values
what makes someone agreeable?
what emotions would they display?
behaving compassionately and cooperatively, rather than suspiciously and antagonistically towards others
trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty, tender-mindedness
what makes someone conscientious?
what emotions would they display?
having self-discipline, acting dutifully and aiming for achievement and planned rather than spontaneous behaviour
competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, deliveration
what are some signs of personality characteristics in books?
people express themselves and their personality through their preferences
examples of this are:
High in extraversion - like celebrity romance
High in introversion - like manga
High in neuroticism - like sad endings
Low in neuroticism - like politics and philosophy
High in extraversion - like humour
High in openness - like philosophy
study into word preferences and personality results
High intraversion / low extroversion - computer, internet, emoticons - solitary - may be some cultural differences
High neuroticism - sick, hate, stupid, depressed etc
Low neuroticism - success, workout, blessed, beach etc - religious connotations
High conscientiousness - work, excited, great day, thankful etc
Low conscientiousness - fuck, pokemon, youtube, bored etc
High agreeableness - blessed, amazing, wonderful, excited, prayers etc
Less agreeableness - bitch, damn, fuck, hell, wtf etc
High openness - soul, universe, dream, writing, music
Less openness - can’t, don’t, wait, wat, gud etc - connected to IQ perhaps
what is the core mechanism of extraversion?
response to reward
mid-brain dopamine reward systems
what is the core mechanism of neuroticism?
response to threat
amygdala and limbic system
serotonin production
what is the core mechanism of conscientiousness?
response inhibition
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
what is the core mechanism of agreeableness?
regard for others
theory of mind
empathy component
what is the core mechanism of openness?
breadth of mental associations
what are the benefits and costs of extraversion?
benefit: increased reward pursuit and capture
cost: physical danger, family instability
what are the benefits and costs of neuroticism?
benefit: vigilance, striving
cost: anxiety, depression
what are the benefits and costs of conscientiousness?
benefit: planning, self-control
cost: rigidity, lack of spontaneous response
what are the benefits and costs of agreeableness?
benefit: harmonious social relationships
cost: not putting self first, lost status
what are the benefits and costs of openness?
benefit: artistic sensibility, divergent though
cost: unusual beliefs, proneness to psychosis
how are the big five traits dissected further?
Each trait has a number of different sub-traits/ facets, allowing for greater detail and subtlety of characterisation
e.g. Depression and anxiety are characteristics of neuroticism
how does personality change?
personality traits seem to be stable after the age of 30
evidence of heritability too
can predict variations of people’s personality based on genetic factors
how does the big five model fit with other traitologies?
These factors often neatly map onto traits described in other theories, simply or as a combination
e.g. psychoticism and agreeableness overlap
criticisms of the big five model
openness correlates with intelligence but intelligence is not personality however, personality may depend of intelligence
if all factors correlate with each other then personality is only one factor in which you can be high or low in
subjective
not clear for other factors e.g. humour, self-esteem etc
more descriptive than theoretical - theorising may suggest other traits of greater significance
dynamics and complexities of personality are not addressed
what was the 6th factor added to the Big Five?
honesty-humility
divided agreeableness into being nice and being not egotistical
questions to do with the big five model:
Are the big five personality traits the fundamental and invariant building blocks of personality?
May not however they are useful organisational tools, they have stimulated research and they reflect some interesting underlying order in personality
criticisms of assigning specific traits to personality
situational influence, variability of behaviour, predictive power of traits
but have been addressed, conceptual, measurement and statistical issues
types instead of traits?
Average, reserved, role models, self-centered
